Shamel Park is a 9-acre park in the suburbs of Riverside, California. Not only does the park have a swimming pool, it also has 2 playgrounds, 2 baseball fields, 2 tennis courts, and some green space. Follow along as we talk about all of these things in the blog!
This video from Notre Dame High School shows the two beautiful playgrounds!
To start off, there is a parking lot in the center of the park. To get here, there is an entrance at the intersection of Arlington Avenue and Glacier Drive. There are 120 regular spaces and 2 handicapped ones.
Next up are the two ballfields in Shamel Park. Both of them are 200 feet long. The southern field (farthest away from the parking lot) has a scoreboard in the outfield, but the northern one does not. There is also an outfield fence for both - hit a home run!
There are lots of bleachers for the parents. Wear sunscreen because there is little to no shade. As for the players, they have benches and shade. Last but not least, there are stadium lights to make nighttime games possible. They likely turn off if there is not a scheduled game happening.
The two tennis courts are in the southwestern corner of the park. They have lights for nighttime games, benches, and fences in the middle so you don’t hit other players. Unfortunately, the court is a little degraded, but that is only aesthetics. If you play in the morning, there will be shade on one of the courts.
There are two small, grassy areas on both sides of the playground to play games. People will play soccer, football, and almost everything else. The northern field next to Arlington Avenue will have more shade. The grass is kept in somewhat decent shape.
The sidewalks in Shamel Park add up to 0.70 miles. It’s not the best place for a walk, but it’s better than many of the neighborhoods (and safer, too).
The bathroom is in between the baseball (also used for softball) field and the parking lot. It’s in somewhat poor shape, but it is still usable. Homeless people will sometimes occupy the area around the restrooms.
The Riverside Canal is on the southern edge of the park. It’s usually empty but can have a lot of water after a big rainstorm.
Shamel Park is usually the busiest at 9 AM and 4 PM just before the park closes. The least busy times are 6 AM and 1 PM. Unsurprisingly, the busiest days are Saturday and Sunday - Little League will play games on weekends.
Leana Hardgrave’s review says, “Shamel Park is a nice community park with a large lap pool, public restrooms, and both covered and uncovered picnic tables. The pool has community classes and is used by the local high school swim team. There is plenty of paved parking and lots of shade!”
Dogs are allowed into the park as long as they are on a leash and picked up after.
Shamel Park Playground
The playground has lots of picnic tables, including 6 that are underneath a shade shelter, and benches. There are also some grills so that you can spend more quality time with your children. Even though the park is closed, some lights will shine on the playground.
The larger Shamel Park Playground has a couple of tall slides, a rope wall, spinning wheels, a swirly fireman pole, a regular fireman pole, a couple of ladders, stairs, and talk tubes.
The smaller playground has a tube slide, a tall slide, a tunnel, games, a couple more classic slides, talk tubes, a ladder, and more.
There are 2 traditional swings and 2 bucket swings for young kids, along with a sand pit that will have some shade.
Shamel Park Address: 3650 Arlington Ave, Riverside, CA 92506
Hours: 6 AM - 5 PM
Coordinates: 33.945696, -117.394296
Shamel Park Pool
The pool is also next to the parking lot. There is a bike rack next to it, too.
Shamel Park Pool is open to the public and has a large pool, swimming lanes, a diving board, a shallow end, bleachers, chairs, and a shade shelter. The shallow end is 4.5 feet deep and the deep end is 12 feet deep. The pool is often used for the local high school swim team, as we said above. The small swimming pool is off to the side and is perfect for younger kids. Many people will take swimming lessons here.
The recreational swim rates are $1.25 for residents and $1.50 for non-residents (0-17 years old), $2.50 for residents and $3.25 for non-residents (18-59 years old), and $1.75 for residents and $2.25 for non-residents (60+ years old). These rates can change in the future.
The pool will most likely be open Monday-Thursday from 5-8 PM.
This is somewhat unrelated, but they have solar panels on top of the building. Not only are they helping the environment, but this allows the City of Riverside to keep entry fees low. They heat the pool with the solar energy!
Joyce says that “My child has been taking swim lessons here for the past 8 summers. I am pleased with the quality of instruction they provide at this Riverside city pool. Highly recommend it for all swim levels.”
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